They are the words of Patrick McEnroe, echoed by many in the sport, and a prevailing thought here at JMTA. According to Kamakshi Tanton’s Tennis.com piece, Patrick said to the the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“Unless it’s a given that you will be a Top 20 player, and you never know that, I think college is a great place to go and mature physically, emotionally,” he said. “There’s great coaching, great facilities. I think the competition is coming back to where it’s getting better and better.”

JMTA students have two perfect examples in Jamie Loeb, whose training her helped her blossom into the top-ranked collegian as a freshman at the University of North Carolina, and Wimbledon Juniors champion Noah Rubin, who selected another ACC school in the same state, Wake Forest, and will matriculate there this fall.

Jamie Loeb, whose many accolades as a freshman at the University of North Carolina included being named ITA Rookie of the Year, was selected to the USTA Collegiate National Team, a high-level training program designed to help top American college players make a smooth transition to professional tennis.

She and JMTA Randalls Island Assistant GM and Director of Tennis Felix Alvarado, who will assist with the team, are noted in this feature on USTA.com introducing the team.

Jamie Loeb continued to shine in her freshman season, winning her singles and doubles matches to pace seventh-seeded North Carolina to a 4-0 win over Georgia State in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship in Chapel Hill, N.C.

UNC (26-5) will face 10th seed Texas A&M on Thursday in the Round of 16 in Athens, Ga., at 9 a.m.

Loeb, who continues to rank No. 1 in the NCAA rankings, won her singles match, 6-4, 6-2 over No. 22 Abigail Tere-Apisah.

Immediately prior to her singles match, Loeb helped Carolina win the doubles point by pairing with Ashley Dai for an 8-3 triumph.

JMTA’s own Jamie Loeb continues to smash her way through her freshman season at the University of North Carolina, piling up her third ACC Player of the Week honor, then dispatching Florida State’s Kerrie Cartwright, 6-1, 6-1, on Sunday to improve to 42-2 on the year, including 11-0 in ACC play.

Remaining at No. 1 in the ITA Division I singles rankings, Jamie and classmate Hayley Carter have teamed to rank at No. 3 nationally in doubles (28-3 overall, 7-0 ACC). The win over FSU boosted the Tar Heels’ record to 21-3 overall, 7-1 in the league and lifted their ITA National Team Ranking to No. 3.

Jamie Loeb continued her singles dominance in NCAA play this past weekend, helping lead the No. 12 University of North Carolina Tar Heels to wins over Virginia Tech and 5th ranked Virginia. Loeb defeated Virginia Tech’s number one player Ilinca Stoica 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 on Sunday after taking down the NCAA’s fourth-ranked player, Julia Elbaba of Virginia 6-1, 7-5 on Saturday.